INVESTIGATING THE USE OF ACTIVE TEACHING METHODS BY LECTURERS AT THE PHYSICS DEPARTMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF GARMIAN

Abstract

INTRODUCTION:Universities are from among important training and research centers in every country. Hence, elevating and developing the scientific and educational levels of a society depend on properly training human capitals, along with cultivating their talent and creativity. In fact, training at universities can be of a dynamic nature only when it starts fostering innovations and using novel teaching methods. According to Maker (1982), when people are forced to imitate rather than express their views and when they are encouraged to exercise only discipline and orderliness instead of doing meaningful works, creativity disappears. Utilizing traditional and inactive teaching methods by professors precludes students from developing their continuous and autonomous decision-making and learning potentials. As a result, the learning process will be gradually boring and it will not only play no role in innovation and creativity, but it will also lead to scientific recession and make them feel indifferent to scientific activities. Therefore, professors must believe that their role in the learning process is not just the transfer of scientific facts, but they should also provide conditions using modern training methods in a way that learning, creativity and the way of thinking be taught to students.In a recent study carried out by Andala & Ng'umbi (2016) on the students of Kenyata University in Rwanda, it is shown that various methods of teaching students have a significant impact on their efficiency. From among those methods, collaborative methods and discussion groups have the most positive effects and traditional teaching methods have the least impact on students' efficiency. Ganyaupfu (2013) has assessed the impact of the three methods of teaching-centered method, student-centered and in one of South Africa's Universities on students' performance; the results show that the method of the highest impact on students' efficiency and educational progress is the teacher-student-centered method. Gurayshi, Musapour and Abasi (2011) reported in their study that active teaching methods are of great significance especially in teaching physics.Werf (2005), Teddlie & Reynolds (2000) and Sammons (1995) have shown in their researches that an effective teaching method takes place when a variety of teaching methods and techniques is used skillful manner. Some researchers including Cortright (2005), Cahyadi (2004) and Falconer (2001) have reported that an increase in conceptual understanding that itself leads to the better solving of quantitative problems and the higher ability to retain knowledge happens when teaching is presented in an active and interactive manner.In a longitudinal study on technical students, Felder and Felder (1998) found that the efficiency rate and learning average of students who had been trained using active methods were by far more than those trained using traditional methods.Dykstra et al. (1992) argue that making discussion when teaching makes students have their own ideas, and this issue occurs when students are allowed to think, question and establish a link among themselves.One of the factors that leads to the success of universities and educational systems in applying active learning methods is having scientifically qualified instructors, familiar and enjoyed with educational, vocational and professional skills. However, there might be some obstacles in using these methods from among which one can refer to temporal and geographical constraints, unfamiliarity with teaching methods, implementation difficulty, the large number of students and others.Teaching in the fields of basic sciences using active methods is much more important because these fields are constantly trying to discover unknown elements of the nature, and innovative and complex sciences and technologies are some parts of their course texts; also the presence of laboratory courses and experimental tests in these fields is from among the main reasons for adopting active and effective teaching methods. …